Car-coupling



UNTTED STATES A PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS L. MOKEEN, OF EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA. y

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part ef Letters Patent No. 325,848, dated september s, 1885. 1 I

Application filed May 23, 1885. (No model.)

To ttllwwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs L. MCKEEN, of Easton, in the county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplers, of which the following is a full, clear, and' exact description.

This invention more particularly relates to automatic railway car couplers in which a sliding block, arranged within the draw-head and forced outward by a spring, and serving both as an elastic stop to the link when coupling, andas a support for the coupling-pin l when raised, is used; and it consists in a certain attachment to said block for relieving the coupling-pin of friction when lifting it to uncouple, and in certain combinations or arrangements of parts of the coupler, including a stop connected with the lifting devices of the coupling-pin, not merely to prevent said pin from being wholly withdrawn from the drawhead, which has before been done in various ways, but to limit the lift of the pin for a proper operation of the attach ment to the sliding block, which relieves the coupling-pin or" friction when being lifted,and which supports it when raised, substantially as herein described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l represents an end view of a rail- Way-car body in part, with my improved coupler applied; Figs. 2 and 3, vertical sections on the line x x in Fig. l, showing, respectively, the coupling-pin as engaged and disengaged; Fig. 4, a view in perspective of the sliding block used in the coupler, and Fig. 5 a .perspective view of the attachment to said block for supporting the coupling-pin when raised, and for relieving the pin of friction when uncoupling.

A indicates the one end of a car-body, and B its draw-head. C is the coupling-pin, and

D the coupling-link. E is the cranked rocker in the draw-headfhaving an attached rocking fulcrum-pin, b, crossing the draw-head, and operated from the exterior, as by alever, c, the whole serving to raise or lower and direct the link when coupling the cars.

G is the sliding block inv thedraw-head,di :i rected in its movementA by upper and lowerguides, d e, and forced outward by a spring,-`

f,-till arrested by the rocking fulcrum-pin b of the link-rocking guide E, which thus serves to act as a stop to said yielding-block G when` it reaches a proper position to receive thelinl;v shown in Fig. 2, and to support the couplingpin D when raised to uncouple, as shown, in,

Fig. 3. Said block, however, is not made to Vsupport the pin O when raised, directly, but

through the intervention of an upper Hap, H,

pivoted to the block, or resting by trunnions g within grooved ways h therein, and so that when said ap is down or in a horizontal position, and the sliding block G is forced by its spring against the fulcrum-pin b of the linkguide E,as shown in Fig. 3, said coupling-pinf supporting ap projects beneath the couplingpin to hold it raised. On running the cars together, however, to couple, the couplingJ "being forcibly pressed by the spring f against the coupling-pin, as shown in Fig. 2, so that it will be free from that restrictive action and friction on the coupling-pin that the block pressed forward by the spring f would have were it to be used as the direct support for the coupling-pin. Such yielding coupling-pin support H accordingly allows ofa much freer and easier withdrawal of the coupling-pin and reduces wear, thus adding to the durability of the coupler. v

The coupling-pin O may be raised to uncouple by means of a shaft, I, arranged across the end, or it might be top of the car, as in other car coupling and uncoupling mechanisms; but as it is not necessary or desirable to raise the coupling-pin wholly out of the drawhead, or to lift it higher than will allow the flap H to fall and adj ust itself into a supporting position for said pin, I use a bell-cranked 1ever, J, on the shaft I, the one arm,K,of which ICO is connected by chain with the coupling-piu, and the other arm, Z, of which acts as a stop against the ear to prevent the undue or excessive lift of the coupling pin, as shown in Fig. 3..

Instead of a bell-crank, two independent arms on the shaft` corresponding to the arms K and l, but in different planes, may be used.

It will be noticed that the stop-arm,applied to the shaft Land arranged to restrict the upward movement of the couplingpin to retain it, when raised, in the draw-head, acts conjointly with the pivoted Hap H ofthe sliding block G-that is to say, said stop-arm deter mines the height to which the coupling-pin should be raised to admit of the pivoted flap H falling into position beneath the couplingpin when raised. in order that it (the iiap) may support said pin.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a car-coupler,the combinatiomwith the dra`w head B, its sliding block, G, and spring for forcing out said block, ofthe coupling-pinsupporting lap H, pivoted to said block, for operation in relation with the couplingpin, substantially as specified.

2. The combination ofthe draw-head B, thc sliding,1 block G, and its springf, the pivoted coupling-pin-supporting fiap H, the couplingpin C, and the rockingllink guide E, constructed and arranged to act as a stop to arrest the sliding block at the limit ot' its forward movement, essentially as described. K

3. The combination, with the draw-head, coupling-pin of the coupler, and the slidingblock G, with its pivoted Hap H, which supports the coupling-pin, when raised, of the shaft I, by which said pin is lifted when required to uncouple, and a stop-arm applied to said shalt, arranged to limit the height to which the coupling-pin should be raised to admit of the pivoted iiap falling into position beneath said'pin when raised, substantially as specified.

. THOMAS L. MCKEEN.

Witnesses FRANK REEDER, C. B. HETZrcH. 

